Fearless (Taylor's Version)
by Taylor Swift

From HoldenM 07/10/2023 03:27 | #298034

A solid companion to Fearless. I will say, some of the punch of Fearless is that it comes from a teenager. Hearing it from someone who has clearly aged over a decade and without the same reckless intensity takes away that youthful discovery and replaces it with a sense of ease that you can hear in Swift's performances. But otherwise, they're the same songs with slight variations. They probably won't change your mind, but Fearless (Taylor's Version) is an interesting experiment, nonetheless.

I overlooked all of Taylor's pre-Red albums, since I first heard that album and its singles in 2012. I realised quickly that Taylor is an incredible singer songwriter with immense quality control and a keen ear for a melody and such a brilliant way with writing. 1989 came out and that was such a huge pop album. I didn't care for Reputation as it seemed a bit daft with its bitter heart on its sleeve and Lover was patchy with some really great subtle pop songs and a fair bit of naff calculated chart hits.

Out come the incredible 2020 duo of folklore and evermore and I felt Taylor had reached a higher level of songwriting and vocal range. But still, with almost daily play sessions of Taylor Swift, I hadn't gone back and listened to any of the first three.

With the ongoing re recorded album campaign, the first is Fearless and with Ms Swift's approval, I gave it a listen and it is track after track of great songs - anything here could be a single and I imagine that goes especially for US country radio. The stuff here is maybe a tad on the juvenile at times, but what is worth its weight in gold here is the stuff that's been hidden in Taylor's vault for 15 years. These six songs are closer to folklore / evermore perhaps entirely due to the production and (perhaps there's a recency bias here) are the best stuff available.

A high rating- 9/10, but being a reissue, I'm not including it in my 2021 yearly chart.